Tiny Cities Made Of Ashes
by Alcolyte
Summary: Everyone left him. He was alone for three long years. What will happen when they are reunited? Chapter 3 uploaded. Cannot update until NEXT Tuesday, vacation.
1. Paper Thin Walls Intro

"Every Aircraft; Every Camera is a wish that wasn't granted."  
-Mogwai's 'Take Me Somewhere Nice'  
  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own the characters or the settings.  
  
Tiny Cities Made Of Ashes Chapter One- Paper Thin Walls  
  
"Goodbyes always depressed me. I don't know what it is about them. Maybe it's the prospect of losing something I hold dear. Maybe it's the knowledge that the person you said goodbye to is out there somewhere, living a life without you. I don't know why, but I always cried when I said goodbye to someone, if they were to be gone for more than a couple of weeks. And even when it was only that, I still felt lost inside, for at least a little bit.  
  
But this was different. It was one of those goodbyes that ended with something like, "Have a nice life," or "I'll never forget you." They were the worst, because you couldn't accept that they were gone. Those people so close to you for so long were abandoning you. It's pretty heartbreaking, you know?  
  
Why am I saying, "You" anyway? Well, to prevent any further confusion, when I talk about, "You" I'm really talking about me.  
  
Let me introduce myself. My name is Keitaro Urashima. I am a recent graduate from Tokyo University, and manager of an All-Girls dorm. And, as of right now, there are no tenants. All of them are gone. I guess, they just grew tired of me. I can't blame them. I was always walking in at just the wrong moment, or deciding to clean the baths at the wrong time of day. Well, whatever it was I did, they're all gone.  
  
Well, back to the Goodbyes. (I almost forgot about them!)  
  
"Keitaro, I'm... We're very sorry. I don't know what kind of fortune, or fate, or whatever you'd call it led to this, but we have to go. I'm most sorry that we decided to leave on the same day. I thought it would be to depressing for us to go, one by one."  
  
That was Shinobu talking. She had been fifteen at that time. It was three years ago that she said it. I haven't seen her since."- Excerpt from Keitaro Urashima's personal diary.  
  
He sat alone at his keyboard, typing. Remembering all the good times he'd had with them. Even then, three years later, he still missed them. He still loved them.  
  
He had spent most of those three long years trying to figure out exactly why they had all left, and even further, why on all the same day? The information he had gathered made it very clear that it was all a coincidence that they had to leave, and left on that same day as a mere convenience. So they could save money, and time. In their time gone, one by one, he fell in love with them, forgetting about the one before, only to fall in love with her again. Perhaps the one he fell in love with the most was the one who was least likely to fall in love with him, but did anyway.  
  
He got up from his computer and walked to the roof, where he looked out every night, in hopes that he would see a figure walking up the stairs, to greet him, embrace him, and tell him that he would never be alone again. Tonight was his lucky night.  
  
END CHAPTER ONE.  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This fic is, for all intents and purposes, an action fic. Judging by this fist chapter alone, you may disagree. But not to worry, it will all fall in to place in due time. And the reason why this post was so retrospective is because this first chapter is essentially an introduction to the world, and a foreshadowing as to where the story will end up, and who he will end up with, I might add. But if you do not like my introspective writing style, feel free to criticize, and I will gladly alter it if I feel that you're correct. 


	2. Disarm

"Do you realize that happiness makes you cry? Do you realize that everyone you know, someday, will die? And instead of saying all of your goodbyes, let them know you realize that life goes fast. It's hard to make the good things last. You realize the sun doesn't go down. It's just an illusion caused by the world spinning 'round."-  
  
The Flaming Lips' "Do You Realize?"  
  
Tiny Cities Made Of Ashes Chapter 2: Disarm  
  
As Keitaro stepped out onto the bare rooftop, he traced his memories, to try to remember how he felt that first night, but he couldn't find it. It was as if he'd blocked it out because it was too painful an experience. It's for the best, I guess, he thought to himself. They didn't care enough to come back, so those feelings don't matter anymore. But, in a deeper layer of his consciousness, he knew he was wrong. He would never forget those people, and he knew he wanted to remember them. Because even if they were gone, the things they left behind were irreplaceable. Such is the case with all past loves and friendships.  
  
He thought he heard a sound on the walkway, but he brushed the thought off. I'm getting too paranoid, he thought, as he climbed back through the window he came from. He walked down the corridor to his room, and sat on his futon. He couldn't brush off the sound he had heard. It was too real.  
  
Usually, when he heard a sound, it was just wishful thinking, but this, this was un mistakably genuine. He had heard something, and it was too damn big to be a rodent. The Yakuza!, he concluded, and picked up the closest blunt object (which happened to be his computer keyboard) and proceeded toward the door when he heard a crash behind him.  
  
He spun around to hear the source of the noise, and too his despair, it was his computer, which he had absent mindedly pulled from its resting place atop the desk. He walked back, and placed it back where it was, and unplugged the keyboard.  
  
Though there were a few more mishaps, involving a toothbrush and a small pile of pornographic videos, of which titles we will not discuss, he escaped his room in one piece. He pressed his body against a wall and slid along it, imitating the spies and assassins of the movies he enjoyed so much.  
  
When he reached the corner nearest to the staircase and eased himself off of the wall. He approached the stairs, and stepped down. When the stair didn't creak, he tiptoed down the rest, as to not compromise his position. When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he walked toward the dining area, only to be distracted by a noise coming from the kitchen. He peeked into the kitchen, only to see all of the cooking appliances, and various types of food sitting on the counter. Those bastards! They want my food AND my life?!?! He speculated. He began to walk through the kitchen, and toward the door on the opposite side, when he caught a glimpse of a woman. He stopped dead in his tracks and stared at her, bent over a table, doing something that Keitaro couldn't see. He studied her features. Her hair was dark blue, and she was dressed in a skin-tight leather jumpsuit. To his puzzlement, an apron. That was Shinobu's favorite apron! he inwardly declared. What a whore. Her arms were tattooed on the forearm. He couldn't make out what they were, but they looked like tally marks.  
  
He gathered his courage, and lunged forward, screaming, "DIE, YOU YAKUZA BITCH!" only to be greeted by a fist and the blackness of unconsciousness.  
  
When he awoke, the woman was hard at work on the meal she had been preparing when Keitaro tried to jump her.  
  
"Who the fuck are you?" He asked with great difficulty, for his head was in a great amount of pain.  
  
"Sempai! You're awake! I'm sorry I knocked you out. It was an instinct, you know." He recognized that voice, but her face was too blurry to make out. But that voice was all he need to hear. "Shinobu, it's you. You came back. Why were you gone so long?" He asked. "And what did you do to your arms?"  
  
"I... I don't want to talk about it." She replied, hesitantly. To her relief, the oven beeped, in an indication that the meal had finished cooking. "Ah! Dinner is served." She smiled at Keitaro, but upon realizing what they had done to him, she couldn't hold back her tears. He was a mess, Hinata-sou was a mess, but then again, so was she. Things would have been so much better for the both of them if everyone had stayed where they knew they could find happiness. She walked over to him, kissed him on the cheek, held him in his arms and said, "I'll never leave you again, Keitaro." "Promise me." He replied.  
  
"I promise."  
  
AUTHORS NOTE: How did you like the second chapter, eh? I think this story will be my best yet, because I like the way the story is progressing thus far. Though I will admit that it is a little too early to make assumptions like that, one can't help but hope, you know?  
  
And for future reference, at this time, Keitaro is 26, which would make Shinobu 19. 


	3. Reservations

"I need you so much closer..."  
  
Death Cab for Cutie's "Transatlanticism"  
  
Tiny Cities Made Of Ashes-Chapter 3- Reservations  
  
Keitaro sat at the table just as Shinobu set the dishes down. He gazed with anxiety toward the meal that she had concocted. Absent-mindedly sparing any formalities, he grabbed at the food and began devouring it. Shinobu glared at him for his lack of manners, but she couldn't blame him. Keitaro hasn't changed a bit, she thought to herself. She smiled at this thought, wondering how she would ever break the news to him about what she had been doing for the past three years. The tattoos, the outfit, how she knocked him out with out even registering that there was an attacker. She hated herself, for all the good she thought she had achieved, when in reality all she achieved was hate-mongering and the loneliness of the man she'd loved since she was twelve years old. These were things she could never forgive herself for. She had no idea what to say. How could she possibly make small- talk with a man she'd abandoned? She thought of many ways to approach the situation, and settled on a rather obscure question, but that confused her nonetheless.  
  
"Why did you think I was Yakuza?" She asked, fearing the answer.  
  
"Simple paranoia, I guess." He replied. She was relieved. "What are those tattoos for?" He asked. She hesitated. "I fell in with the wrong crowd," she answered, after a minute or so. "But, tally marks? C'mon. You can do better than that." He joked. She giggled. "Hey, I thought it was fitting at the time." She countered, in jest. "Fitting? What were you doing? Counting on your arm instead of you fingers? Did you need some help on your bank account?" Shinobu feigned a laugh. Eh, he has his moments, she thought, disappointed in his latest wisecrack.  
  
"How were the past three years for you, Keitaro? For me, at least, they weren't very good. Sure, there were some good times. But in truth, I missed this place, and you, more than anything."  
  
Keitaro blushed a little. "They were boring, desolate, and the closest to hell on earth this side of the thing really close to hell on earth."  
  
Shinobu laughed, before she registered what he had said. "Oh, sempai. I'm so sorry. I would have come back sooner but, I couldn't. I'm so sorry. Please forgive me." She pleaded, as she burst into tears. "Please, Shinobu, I don't blame you for anything. You have nothing to be sorry about. If you demand forgiveness, then of course I give it to you. What matters is that you're here now, and I'm not letting you go."  
  
A smile brightened her teary face. "Oh, sempai! Do you really mean it?" She inquired.  
  
"Of course I do. Oh, and by the way." He said, with last part a serious tone. She flinched, not knowing what he would say, praying that it wouldn't be anything that jeopardized their friendship.  
  
A smile formed on Keitaro's face. "This meal is the best thing I've ever tasted, in my life."  
  
Not only was she relieved, but she was overjoyed. "I thought you were going to say something bad."  
  
"Yeah, I had you fooled, didn't I?"  
  
"Sempai! That is very unlike you!"  
  
"I know, I know."  
  
Keitaro finished off his plate, and was very satisfied. He wasn't kidding when he said it was the greatest meal he'd ever eaten. Shinobu stood up and declared, "Time for desert!" She walked, gracefully, toward the kitchen, and grabbed the last course of the meal. She walked back to the table, and set it down, giving Keitaro a good view of her cleavage in the process. His jaw dropped, and his pants tightened. When Shinobu realized what was happened, she stood up quickly, embarrassed. She wasn't sure if he'd been ogling or criticizing, and this worried her. Did she live up to his standards? She brushed the thought off and sat back down.  
  
The dessert was even more enjoyable than the entrée. Keitaro had no idea how Shinobu had so acutely mastered the art of cooking. Frankly, he didn't care. All he cared about was that he was in heaven when he ate her food. When he was finished, he stood up, put his fists to his waists, and declared, "I must use the lavatories." And he stormed off into their direction.  
  
Shinobu laughed silently to herself. He has developed a sense of humor, she decided.  
  
When Keitaro returned from the toilet, Shinobu was nowhere to be found. He looked everywhere around the dorms, but he couldn't seem to find her anywhere. He began calling out her name. He finally came to the deck, where he found her staring out toward the stars. "There you are," he said, his relief apparent in his voice.  
  
"When we were gone, did you ever look out at the stars, hoping that we were doing the same?" She asked. "Yeah, I did find myself doing that every once in a while, but when I did, I stopped myself, because I didn't want to live a cliché." He answered.  
  
"Who were you trying to prove something to, when you did that." She delicately inquired.  
  
"Myself, I guess. I never wanted to live my life as if it were a book with mediocre reviews." He laughed at that thought. "What's so funny?" She asked. "It's just that thought. If the last three years of my life were written as a book, it would have been described as boring, monotonous, and a sad excuse for a piece of literature." With that, he walked back into the building, and to his room. Shinobu followed, but lingered outside the door, as to not alert Keitaro of her presence.  
  
He was soon asleep, and when he was, Shinobu entered. She walked gently over to Keitaro's futon, and kneeled next to and whispered, "I love you." She lay down, put her arms around him, and fell asleep herself.  
  
When Keitaro awoke, he found Shinobu next to him. Fairly confident that nothing happened, he gave into his urges, and held her in a deep embrace, and drifted back off to sleep.  
  
Next time he awoke, Shinobu was gone. He figured she was downstairs cooking breakfast, and upon arriving downstairs, he learned his assumptions were correct. He walked up next to her and said, "I slept beautifully, how about you?" He said. She smiled, and looked at him, with loving eyes, but didn't say a word, and went back to fixing breakfast.  
  
He surprised himself on how charming he seemed. Hopefully, it wasn't just a string of luck on his part. His thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. He ran to answer it, and when he did, his jaw dropped. In front of him was a creature that was almost as beautiful as Shinobu. She wore a kendo suit, and held a sheathed katana at her side.  
  
"Greetings, Urashima." The woman said.  
  
"Motoko!" 


End file.
